Sex trumps torture and corruption

Paul McGeough This is about carnal relations, not global security - got it? We're talking sex, so if you're looking for heavy breathing about ethics and morality, move on, turn the page.

Paul McGeough

Still waiting for Western civilisation

Paul McGeough Murder is disturbing - whether the victim is a secular political leader in the fraught, post-revolutionary chaos of Tunisia or a kid at school in the sensible and stable, we-know-how-to-do-it US.

Paul McGeough

The NRA-style potshot is alive and well

Paul McGeough If just a single bully works the neighbourhood, there's a good chance that his protection racket can hold up.

Paul McGeough

It's time for action to halt obscenities

Paul McGeough Tears don't cut it, Mr President. After another school massacre on Friday, a tearful Barack Obama declared ''our hearts are broken'', before promising ''meaningful action to prevent more tragedies...

So many secrets, not enough intelligence

Paul McGeough Does this jolt to the massive combine that is the US intelligence system, by the unseemly departure of the head of the CIA in what we know as the Petraeus affair, require a pause to look at the house...

Paul McGeough

Obama changes course between courses

Paul McGeough For a time there, it looked like business as usual in the Middle East.

Paul McGeough

Obama has to factor Arab Spring into reaction to Israeli-Hamas crisis

Paul McGeough WASHINGTON: We have yet to see the mettle of Barack Obama in his second term as US President, but it will be intriguing to watch how he sustains Washington's support for Israel in the coming four...

Paul McGeough

Sandy strike timely reminder to deniers

Paul McGeough Can you imagine how events might have unfolded had hurricane Sandy struck a few weeks earlier?

Paul McGeough

Pull the plug on Murdoch's modem

Paul McGeough Many families reach a point at which they need to confront the antics of the oldies - it appears to have arrived for the Murdochs.

Paul McGeough

Light the touch paper and stand back

Paul McGeough What the hell was that? In a perfect global storm: massive over-reach by crackpot Christian fundamentalists in California collided with what may have been a lucky break for the remnants of al-Qaeda's...

Paul McGeough

The military adviser left out in the cold

Paul McGeough The lost pages of Catch-22 have turned up: they are the real-life career notes of Gwenyth Todd.

Paul McGeough

Oiling the wheels of justice, US-style

Paul McGeough The ritual of the American party conventions is fascinating for foreigners.

Paul McGeough

Here's a banking chief worth protecting

Paul McGeough When Muhammad Yunus gets mugged by the government of Bangladesh, our culture of modern hero-worship manifests as blanket indifference.

Paul McGeough

Coalition of the unwilling to understand

Paul McGeough With apologies to film director Ken Kwapis, they're just not that into us. We're talking about Afghans.

Paul McGeough

War of words is Israel's best defence

Paul McGeough Is Israel actually going to war - or merely threatening to go to war?

Paul McGeough

Rebels bank on Aleppo as new Benghazi

Paul McGeough Let's get real. The Syrian conflict is a war, not a French-knitting circle.

Paul McGeough

In the US, the gun lobby calls the shots

Paul McGeough It didn't take long for a would-be copycat of last week's Colorado mass killer to emerge.

Paul McGeough

Brass hue to silver lining of a new Egypt

Paul McGeough An all's-well presumption in some quarters on the Egyptian presidential election is bizarre.

Paul McGeough

This is Romney's campaign to lose

Paul McGeough ELEMENTS of the commentariat are demanding a Sister Souljah moment from Mitt Romney. The call harks back to 1992 when candidate Bill Clinton gave the African-American rapper a jab in the ribs for her...